The Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts: ‘I need two years off from Ronnie Wood after we stop touring’

Drummer says spending every day with his bandmates can be a little taxing…

Rankin

The Rolling Stones‘ Charlie Watts has revealed that he doesn’t want to see his bandmate Ronnie Wood for “two years” whenever they finish touring.

The legendary band celebrated their 50th anniversary this year and, earlier this month, frontman Mick Jagger confirmed that they plan to play live together this autumn in order to mark reaching their half-centenary milestone.

Speaking to Classic Rock, however, Watts admitted that he has had enough of his bandmates once they have finished travelling together and playing gigs. Singling out guitarist Wood, he confided:

The tours are two years long, so I’m living with Ronnie Wood for all that time, so I don’t need to see him for another two years.

Watts also revealed that the band would find it hard to replicate the hectic schedule they kept in the 60s, adding: ”In the mid 60s the tours would be a trip around England, then a trip around America, then recording in America back to Europe, England to America.

“You were living together the whole time, you’d get a month off at the most. You were younger though. And also, you were more photogenic, to be honest. I don’t think Keith would want you photographing him at two in the morning now.”

Earlier this month, Richards admitted that he sometimes forgets how to play Rolling Stones songs, adding: “I don’t practice as much as I should, probably. But now that we’re putting the act together again I’m getting the chops back together.” Jagger, meanwhile, revealed that the group “had been hanging out together” and “want to do some gigs”, although no specific details have been announced yet.